The design and use of floating boom devices for containing fluid spills, such as crude oil, on open water is well known. Examples of such typical devices are disclosed in Magoon at al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,856 and Brown U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,547. As the transportation of fluids such as crude oil by water and the catastrophic affects from the inadvertent release of such fluids has increased, the importance of effective containment and recovery systems has increased.
In the last ten to fifteen years a growing number of water permeable (also known as hydrophobic) and oil absorbent (also known as oleophilic) materials have become known and are used in containment booms since they also allow the recovery of crude oil while they are containing the spill. Some examples of booms utilizing such materials are Cavalieri U.S. Pat. No. 3,565,257, Preus et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,235, Kain U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,587, and Neal U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,407.
While booms using these materials generally can be more effective in containing and recovering spilled hydrocarbons, they still suffer from a number of shortcomings that are not alleviated simply by employing water permeable/oil absorbent material. One of the biggest shortcomings is that most booms have an inability to maintain their carrier effect in rough or choppy waters. Both the extended horizontal cylindrical-type barriers as exemplified in the Cavalieri patent and the "fencepost" design as exemplified by the Neal patent have a limited ability to ride rough water. Despite attempts to improve the ability of booms to assimilate wave action in rough or choppy waters, earlier boom systems tend to be washed over by the waves with spill material or they ride up on wave and allow fluids to pass under them.
There are also problems which revolve around the bulkiness of the barriers, difficulty in transporting the barriers to spill sites, and special equipment or training required to utilize the barriers when at the spill site. In particular, most existing booms do not fit very well on the decks of small to medium sized vessels or in the storage areas of those vessels. The relatively slow speed with which most booms can be deployed is also a limitation of earlier examples of booms. Another problem of earlier types of spill containment booms is that once the booms have become soiled they must be cleaned or may even have to be discarded. Even with booms which allow their barrier portion to be changed, typically it is difficult and time consuming to replace the barrier portion, and there is the problem of disposing of the soiled portion of the boom.
This problem is related to the difficulties commercial fishermen face with their nets. In order to fish in different bodies of water with varying water conditions, i.e. depth of the body of water, and strength and direction of local currents, fishermen are required to have a variety of nets. The nets have different combinations of weight devices, floats, and dimensions of the net itself. Since commercial fishing nets are expensive to produce and expensive to maintain, commercial fishermen who desire to fish in varying water conditions must invest substantial amounts of money for a variety of fishing nets. They are also faced with the problem of maintaining and storing this variety of nets.
Undoubtedly, the greatest overlooked resource in fighting oil spills, whether it is in Prince William Sound in Alaska or the gulf coast of Texas, is the multitude of small and medium-sized fishing vessels which have both the equipment and personnel specifically experienced in deploying boom-like devices into the water, moving through the water with the devices deployed, and recovering both the devices and materials contained in the devices. In addition, local fishermen are frequently the mariners with the greatest knowledge of the local water conditions, currents, etc. Also, they frequently are most knowledgeable about the location of those areas most ecologically sensitive to damage by spilled hydrocarbon such as crude oil.
Even when local fisherman are employed to combat oil spills, they are frequently saddled with cumbersome booms that cannot be accommodated with the equipment on their boats, and which requires special instructions and special equipment to be used. Thus, the parties charged with containing and recovering spilled hydrocarbons may very be neglecting what can be one of the most effective weapons in combating the economic and ecological disasters that almost always accompany the inadvertent release of hydrocarbons such as crude oil on the open water.
As illustrated by the above discussion, there are a number of desirable features for a detachable boom for containing and recovering spilled hydrocarbons such as crude oils have. It would be desirable to have a boom with a float system that has the ability to assimilate wave action on rough or choppy water, thus allowing the boom to maintain its barrier effect. It would be desirable to have a boom which incorporates a water-permeable, oil absorbent barrier that could be used by local fishermen on their small to medium sized fishing boats. Further, it would be desirable to have a boom that does not require any special equipment or special training to use. In addition, it would be desirable to have a boom that is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, assemble, use, and repair. Further, it would be desirable to have a boom that could be deployed very quickly at a spill site. It also would be desirable to have a boom that could be towed trough an area with an oil spill in a manner similar to that of a fishing net. It is additionally desirable to have a boom that is relatively lightweight and easy to handle in adverse conditions. It would be further desirable to have a boom with an attachment system that would enable the boom to be easily assembled and disassembled, enabling the component parts to be changed or interchanged. It would be further desirable to have a boom the parts of which could be either cleaned or disposed of in an ecologically sound manner.
While the discussion herein relates to a detachable boom designed to contain and recover spilled hydrocarbons such as crude oil, it is not intended that the invention be limited to this situation. It will be obvious from the description that follows that the present invention will be useful in other applications with problems common to those described herein, including problems found in the commercial fishing industry.